Ahmed Taleb Wins MSPT South Dakota for $54k

Ahmed Taleb has taken down the $1,110 MSPT South Dakota Main Event, after besting a field of 216 players over three days, on his way to capturing the title, and a top prize of $54,089. Pror to winning the MSPT South Dakota, Taleb had just $1,777 in lifetime earnings, and he almost didn’t even make this MSPT event after registering late for the competition on Day 1B with just one minute to spare. As the 25-year-old Moroccan explains:
“I fired a bullet in the qualifier and didn’t qualify,” he explained. “I was debating should I play, should I not, and then I played $2/$5 no-limit cash and ran really good. I decided to fire a bullet at the last minute.”
Taleb used some of that money to give the $150,000 MSPT guarantee event held at the Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood a go, which proved to be a fateful decision indeed.
“This was my first time at Grand Falls,” commented Talab. “It’s great. Probably lucky for me it’s my first time here and I’m winning.”
By the time Taleb had made it through to the heads-up phase of the tournament, he was sitting on a 2.7 million to 1.6 million chip advantage over Lucas Christoffer. The roles were soon reversed, though, after Taleb lost an all-in holding pocket jacks to his opponent’s A-K. More than an hour-and-a-half later, and Taleb then managed to get back in front once more, when the deciding hand was played.
Both Taleb (9-8) and Christoffer (A-K) decided to check a 9-8-5 flop, and after a king arrived on the turn, Taleb check-raised all-in, prompting a call from Christoffer. A harmless 10 subsequently was dealt on the river, resulting in a consolation prize of $32,243 for the runner-up, and the MSPT title for Ahmed Taleb.
Final Table Results:
1: Ahmed Taleb $54,089
2: Lucas Christoffer $32,243
3: JW Nelson $20,594
4: Aaron Johnson $14,769
5: Harold Brenden $11,441
6: Wesley Ismay $9,361
7: Swadeep Mishra $7,801
8: Kurt Bales $6,449
9: Ted Takasaki $5,409
10: Erick Woehlhaff $4,160
Next stop on Season 8 of the MSPT is Minnesota’s Running Aces Casino from September 16th to 24th.